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Hitler Beast of Berlin
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Wikipedia article
'HitlerBeast of Berlin' (1939) was one of the most popular "hiss and boo" films of the World War II era, based on the novel 'Goose Step' by Shepard Traube (19071983).
Production history
The film was the first production of Producers Releasing Corporation. It was recut and released as 'Beasts of Berlin' the same year, having been banned in New York as too inflammatory at the time. It was also reissued in 1940 as 'Goose Step' and in the early 1940s as 'Hell's Devils'.
Selected film criticism
'Beast' received mixed reviews. The film was distributed as an anti-Nazi thriller aimed at the North American domestic market.
James G. Stahlman, political correspondent for 'Nashville Banner,' wrote an editorial in 1939, criticizing the film for exploiting people's emotions over a serious matter a repugnant, dangerous, dictator in a way that clouds objectivity of the public at a critical time when force of arms may be needed. Stahlman seemed to say that using sensational propaganda to build antagonistic emotions under the guise of flag-waving public service (educating the public of the already obvious evils of Hitler) was easy money for the production, but dangerous for America (see Exploitation film and Nazi exploitation). Propaganda 'vs.' propaganda: a sub-irony of Stahlman's point was that the anti-Nazi propaganda film was being used to ridicule pro-Nazi propaganda related to the plot.
Plot
A man and his wife lead a German anti-Nazi propaganda literature movement. After an inadvertent betrayal, the husband is thrown into a concentration camp, from which he escapes to Switzerland.
Cast
*Roland Drew as Hans Memling
*Steffi Duna as Elsa Memling
*Greta Granstedt as Anna Wahl
*Alan Ladd as Karl Bach
*Lucien Prival as Sachs
*Vernon Dent as Lustig
*John Ellis as Gustav Schultz
*George Rosener as Wunderlich
*Bodil Rosing as Frau Kohler
*Hans Heinrich von Twardowski as Storm Trooper Albert Stahlhelm
*Willy Kaufman as Herr Kohler
*Hans Joby as Hermann Lippert
*Frederick Giermann as Father Pommer
*Crane Whitley as Klee (as Clem Wilenchick)
*Henry Zynda as Erlich (as Henry von Zynda)
Production notes
Archival footage of Adolf Hitler is included.
Release
The film was released in 1940 as 'Goose Step'.
See also
* Exploitation film
* Nazi exploitation
* Propaganda film
* Nazism and cinema
* History of propaganda films
* American propaganda during World War II
* Red-baiting (related term)
References
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